Electric switch-operating device.



@ Q MY r) 8 1 \1 N m w. u i N I m 1 m v 0 v m u No. 806,442. PATENTED DEC.- 5, 1905.

I. J. STOUPFER.

ELECTRIC SWITCH OPERATING DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED JULY 10. 1905.

2 SfiEETB-S.

. Q Z7 $011270 by I Witnesses N0. 806,442. PATENTED DEC. 5, 1905- I. J.'STOUFFER.

ELEGTRIG SWITCH OPERATING DEVICE.

APPLIOATION FILED JULY 10. 1905.

2 sums-sum 2.

Attorneys NITED STATES PATENT orrion.

IRA J. STOUFFER, OF ALTOONA, PENNSYLVANIA. ELECTRIC SWITCH-OPERATING DEVICE.

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it knownthat I, IRA J. STOU'FFER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Altoona, in the county of Blair and- State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Electric Switch-OperatingDevice, of which the following is a specification.

Thisinvention relates to switch-operating mechanism, and has for its principal object to providea novel means whereby a switch may be adjusted in advance of an approaching car and placed wholly under the control of the motorman or other operator on the car.

A further object of the invention is to provide a switch-operating mechanism in which the turning of a switch or similar member on an approaching car will result in the move ment of the switch inadvance of the car and after the passage of a car beyond the switch the latter will be automatically restored to its initial position.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a controlling mechanism that may be adjusted from either end of the car and to so arrange the electrical circuits and contacts that the mechanism may operate while the car is moving in either direction.

,- A still further object of the invention is to ter being thereafter held in adjusted position With these and other objects in View, as will more fully hereinafter appear, the invention consists in certain novel features ofconstruction and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanyi-ng drawings, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that Specification of Letters I ate1it.

Application filed July 10,1905. Serial-No. 269,024.

Patented Dec. 5, i905.

various changes in the form, proportions, size,

and minor details of the structure may be made.

without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation, partly in the'nature of a diagram.

of a switch-operating mechanism constructed in accordance with the invention. Fig. 2 is a plan viewof the same. Fig. 3 is a detail elevation of the switch-operating electromagnets drawn to-an enlarged scale. Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of the contact member arranged adjacent to the trolley-wire. Fig. 5 is a plan View of the upper portion of the trolley harp and wheel, showing the contact carried thereby. Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view of the flexible connecting means forming a part of the switch-actuating device.

Similar numerals of reference are employed to indicate corresponding parts throughout th several figures of the drawings.

The apparatus is shown as employed in connection 'with an overhead-trolley wire 10, which is supported in the usual manner from hangers 11 and cross-wires 12, the latter being supported by posts 13, or any other suitable.

At a point adjacent to the switch is a post I 22, at theupper endof which is arranged a casing 23, carrying supports for the reception of two electromagnets 24 and 25. Arranged below and Within the field of force of the electromagnet 24 is an armature 25, theopposite,

ends of which are provided with recesses 26,

arranged for the reception oflocking-arms 27, that are forced toward each other by tension-springs '28. These arms are pivoted on studs 29 and at their lower ends are connect ed bylinks 3O toan armature 31, that is dis.- posed withinthe field of force of theelectromagnet 25. V I i Y y The armature 25' is connectedzto the upper endof a rod 32, which preferably is formed of two sections coupled by a turnbuckle 33 to permit adjustment. The lower end of the rod 32 is connected by a chain or cable 34 to a rod 35, the outer end of the rod 35 being connected to the switch-tongue 21 in any suitable manner, and usually the rod 35 will be arranged horizontally and may be passed through a suitable shield in the form of a tube or the like. The chain or cable 34 is guided by a suitable sheave 36, arranged within a casing 37, that preferably has small stufiing-boxes at its upper and lower ends for the reception of the rods 32 and 35 in order to prevent the entrance of dust and dirt.

The arrangement of the parts is such that if the electromagnet 24 is energized it will attract the armature 25 and movement will be transmitted, through the rods 32 and 35, to the switch-tonge 21, moving the latter to the position opposite that shown in Fig. 2. As soon as the armature 25 moves up, the arms 27 move inward and engage the recesses 26, thus locking the armature in the highest position and holding the switch-tongue in the position to which it has been adjusted. The parts remain in this position until the electromagnet 25 is energized, and when this occurs the armature 3-1 is drawn down and the locking-arms 27 are moved from engagement with the armature 25', leaving the rods 32 and 35 free to move. The spring 21 then acts to throw the switch-tongue to the position shown in Fig. 2, and this movement is imparted to the rods 35 and 32, pulling the arma'ture 25 down to the normal position.

To one of the hangers 11 of the trolleywire is hung a contact-block 40, that is insulated from the hanger and is disposed in a horizontal plane slightly below that of the trolley-wire. This contact is connected by a wire 41 to the upper electromagnet 24, the circuit being thence completed to ground through a wire 45.

At the upper end of the trolley-harp is arranged a pair of pivotally-connected contacts 46, that normally are separated by a helical compression-spring 47, the carrying-bolt 48 of the spring being headed and serving to limit the spreading movement of the contacts. A car traveling in a direction of the switch will move one or other of its contents 46 into engagement with the contact and close the circuit of the electromagnet 24, the circuit being under the control of the motorman.

Arranged in each car are two switches 48, one terminal of each switch being connected to the main wire 17, while the opposite switchterminal is connected by a wire 50 to a contact-plate 51 on the top of the car. Two contact-plates 51 are shown in Fig. 2, these being spaced from each other and arranged on arcuate lines struck from the center of rotative movement of the lower end of the trolley-pole. Secured to, but insulated from, the trolleypole is an arm 54, that is arranged to engage one or other of the plates 51, one of said plates being engaged when the car is traveling in one direction and the other while the car is traveling in the opposite direction, so that only one of the switches 48 is operative, the switch at the forward end of the car being under the control of the motorman, while the switch at the rear end of the car is cut out, and no harm can result from turning of the same by the conductor or a passenger.

Should the motorman of the approaching car desire to change the position of the switchtongue 20, he turns the switch 48 at the forward end of the car and a portion of the current from the wire 17 is shunted through the switch 48, wire 50, one of the plates 51, arm 54, wire 56, contact 46, contact 40, wire 41, electromagnet 24 and operating the switch in the manner previously described. If the switch is to remain in adjusted position, the switch 48 of the car is not operated, and the contacts may then engage each other without closing the circuit of the electromagnet 24. After the car has passed beyond the switchtongue the contact 46 will engage a second contact 40, also hung adjacent to the trolleywire, and a circuit will be closed from the car through contact 46, contact 40, wire 58, electromagnet 25, wire 45 to ground, thus energizing the lock-controlling magnet and releasing the upper armature 25 and permitting the switch-tongne to reassume its initial position, or by turning the switch 48 to open position before the car passes under the contact 40 the switch-tongue may be retained in the position to which it was previously adjusted. Should this occur or any of the parts become accidentally broken or impaired, the armature 31 may be pulled down by means of a handled rod 60, that is hung from the armature, the handle being arranged within convenient reach of a person standing on the ground.

Vith an apparatus of the class described the position of the switch may be adjusted without the necessity of leaving the car and without the employment of a switch-temler.

Havingthus described the invention, what is claimed is 1. In apparatus of the class described, the combination with an electromagnet having an armature, the opposite ends of which are re cessed, means for connecting said armature to the switch-point, a pair of pivotally-mounted locking-arms arranged to enter said recesses after the armature has been moved, and thus lock the switch-tongue in position, a second electromagnet, an armature therefor, and links connecting said armature to the pivoted locking-arms.

2. 1n apparatus of the class described, the combination with a switch-operating electromagnet, of a trolley-wire, a contact arranged adjacent to the trolley-wire, an electricallypropelled car, a trolley-arm carried thereby,

a bracket member extending forward of the In testimony that I claim the foregoing as trolley-wheel, apair of contact-arms pivoted my own I have hereto affixed my signature in to the bracket and projecting beyond the sides the presence of two witnesses. a

of the trolley-Wheel, a guide bolt or bar eX- IRA J. STOUFFER.

tending through thecontacts, and a spring Witnesses:

encircling said bar and tending to separate CHARLES H. CHERRY,

said contacts. t ROBERT E; CAsKY. 

